Sometimes I get to attend Baby Showers

And after the Wedding... Rhiana and Matt were married on the beach in Fort Lauderdale a year ago. I had the pleasure of providing their simple ceremony, just the two of them and me. They were a sweet couple, one of the ones that make me want to keep them forever as friends. Even though I would like to get to know them all better it rarely happens. I meet them at their location, spend a few very special moments with them and then they are gone out of my life. Rhiana called me just before their first anniversary to ask if I could perform a vow renewal, same time same place. It was nice hearing from her and knowing that my services were appreciated. Small change...or perhaps big change had taken place, a baby was well on the way and it was wonderful to see that they were even more in love now then they were one year before. Shortly after their vow renewal I received an invitation to a 'baby on the way" party to be held on the beach. The party was this past Saturday and I enjoyed spending time with them and some of their friends. The big day can't be long now. I will be eagerly awaiting the announcement in the near future. A nice little bonus for being a wedding officiant. When you're ready to say I Do I hope you will consider checking out my website

A Rainy Saturday Morning Wedding

Greg and Gina picked Saturday morning for their small intimate wedding ceremony in a park in Deerfield. Little did they know that the park would be under construction and that the weather would be inclimate. They say rain makes you beautiful and also that rain on your wedding day is good luck. Gina did look beautiful and they seemed like a couple, very much in love so perhaps they won't need the good luck. Their only guests were the parents of the groom, the grooms brother and three elderly gentlemen who had chosen the pavillion to get out of the rain and listen to a ballgame on a portable radio. The ceremony speaks of love and of the commitments of marriage taking a lifetime to fulfill. While I was reading those parts I couldn't help but look from the bride and groom to the parents who I knew had been married for 62 years. I felt that perhaps those words meant more to them then what they meant to the couple being married. I hope it meant something to all who were there to hear. Perhaps the elderly gentlemen felt a little warmer to the women in their lives, (if they had any) when they went home. But each wedding in special...no matter the number of guests, the location, the brides gown, (or simple dress), each wedding is special because it is the moment when one man and one woman pledge their love and devotion for the rest of their lives. Each time I say "I now pronounce you husband and wife" i say a little prayer that their marriage will be successful, and happy.

Picking Up The Threads

Yesterday I performed a wedding for Fay and Bill and it proved to be very emotional, for me.
Fay and Bill were married before, would have been celebrating their 42nd Anniversary yesterday had they not hit a rough spot a few years back

I don't know their history, the hows and whys of their split up and divorce but I was called upon to perform the ceremony which would put them back together.

They were a very nice couple and their marriage had produced two sons, one of which had provided them with a grandchild with a second one on the way.

They had chosen to have their ceremony in their home, a very nice, comfortable home in an upscale neighborhood in the Fort Lauderdale area, complete with a wonderful, large golden retreiver.

Their only guests were their two sons and Bill's mother. Very small intimate wedding.

I set out to put their ceremony together a day or so before their chosen date and found their situation to one which gave my writing talent a nice workout.

When you think about it, two people who have hit the rough spots and stumbled, who then decide to pick themselves up and start again, it can be so very meaningful. I wrote, what I thought, was quite good for the occasion. It went over well, I could tell by the looks on their faces and by the fact that it was a little emotional for me as well.

I sincerely wish Fay and Bill all the best in their lives. I want to believe that their breakup showed them all the things that are lost in the breakup of a family and all the pain that is suffered by not just the couple but by their children, their whole family and friends as well.

It would serve everyone well to give great thought both before they get married and before they divorce. We can all do better.

Out Shout the Wind by Donna Merritt

It was a WINDY day on Key Biscayne.
I received a call from Juliana in Miami on Saturday asking if I could do a wedding on Key Biscayne the following day.
I advertise "short notice" OK and I do try to9 accommodate when possible so I said I could do it.
She said they wanted to have the ceremony at 11:30 and we agreed to meet at her condo at 11:00.
The drive to Miami is not bad on a Sunday morning and i always give myself plenty of time because arriving late just sort of tears up my whole constitution so I was in the area, after about a 30 minute drive, by 10:30 am.
That was when the fun started. I had the address but still I drove up and down the street several times looking for the address.
Juliana is from Columbia and our communication left something to be desired and so it ended up with me finding a parking place, calling her and saying this is where I am and her coming to find me. The problem stemed from the fact that her building was not facing Brickell Ave, where the address was, but rahter facing on a little driveway that ran along the south side of the building rather than on the west side which was Brickell.
At any rate she found me, we drove to her apartment, less that two blocks away and hung out in the lobby for a few minutes while everyone assembled. lots of beautiful people, all speaking Spanish, except to me.
Juliana turned out to be an absolutely beautiful young woman, striking would be a good word here as well. She was wearing a form fitting, one shouldered dress in off white with a slit up one side which extended quite high. Her hair was long and dark dark brown. She looked like a Greek goddess.
This was Juliana's second marriage and she has a little seven year old boy who looked so much like my youngest grandson, it was amazing.
At any rate, it seems we were waiting for the groom, yes grooms run late just like some brides, but we finally were all assembled, got into our cars for the drive to the end of Key Biscayne. Actually to Bill Baggs Park. If you are not familiar with Key Biscayne and the park it is well worth your effort to take a trip there. The whole length of the Key is very pretty and the Park section at the end is quite large and wild looking.
I need to do some homework here on history. In the middle of the Key is an area called Crandon Park and I believe I am correct in saying this is the home of the original Crandon Park Zoo in Miami. I remember taking my kids there years ago. It has long since been replaced by Metro Zoo in Miami.
To continue...I love the Spanish, two minutes can be an hour and a ten minute drive can be much longer. Anyway the location they had chosen, ten minutes from the apartment. I didn't time it but it was a little longer than that but such a beautiful drive. The bridge over the bay which provides a beautiful skyline view of downtown Miami and then the drive through the residential and tourist area, the park areas, all nice and especially on a Sunday morning, free from heavy traffic.
We arrived at the parking lot, at the far end of the park and the weather was being so nice to us. We had been threatened with storms and rain but it was nice and sunny when we got out of our cars.
However just a short walk to the water and it was like going into a wind tunnel. I was totally unprepared for the transition from warm sunny day to storm blasts. The couple however had picked the spot and there is where we did the ceremony. What a wind blown group we all were. There were probably around twenty of us all together and the guest had to huddle close because my words were fairly ripped from my lips and blown away.
I must say everyone, except for a small child about a year old, handled it with great dignity (if you can be dignified and blown away at the same time and in about twenty minutes we had accomplished what we came for. Juliana (love the name) was married to Cyril (a young Frenchmen) with Juliana's son acting as ring-bearer.
I Had taken care of the paperwork back at the apartment because I didn't expect the accommodations for writing would be very good at the park, and so with a few final congratulations and goodbyes I headed back home.
The drive back to the main land was so beautiful and the drive up 95 was easy with few cars to mar my progress and so I was home in a short time. I stopped at my favorite Italian place on the way and picked up a pizza to go. I had just pulled into my car port when the storm hit. Going inside I was thinking God had certainly been nice to my bride and groom and to me. He held up his storm so that we could have a beautiful, if windy time for the ceremony and then turned loose his fury after all was finished and I was safely home.
I changed into my comfy clothes, put a couple slices of pizza on a plate, curled up on my couch, turned on the TV and settled in for a nice quiet afternoon. My work finished for the day, wind and rain pounding outside while I snuggle warm inside. Life is good and I am blessed.